The Flock and The Mismatched Mutants
by ReplaceWithSomethingWitty
Summary: Max gets a phone call from Omega, saying that he is in San Francisco, CA and has a gang of mutants with him--one of which is horribly sick. The Flock plus Jeb, Max's Mom and Ella go to help them...but can Omega and the Mismatched Mutants be trusted?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I _REALLY _apologize about writing this, but reading the series again sparked my inner fangirl/writer, and I had to do this. (Deep breath) I like Omega, alright? I think that if he had a soul and was Good than he'd be completely _amazing_. So...here we go with this... **

The rain was falling like bullets from heaven, tearing up the ground and leaving gaping, slick, muddy wounds. If I had been out there, I would have been miz-ra-bull. But I wasn't outside. I was inside, sitting in my window-seat-like bed, underneath the warm, thick blankets.

Everyone else was asleep—Angel and Nudge in the room that they shared, Gazzy and Iggy in their basement room, and Total in his own, small room near the kitchen. Where was Fang? You might ask that. Well…he was out _there._

You see, we had an argument. It consisted of me arguing with Fang, and Fang just looking at me with that unreadable expression on his face while he shook his head. Then, when I had raised my voice and my wings, he had sighed, turned and walked out the door, telling us that he'd be back soon—through Angel of course.

So I had seethed a bit, cursing Fang into oblivion under my breath, and then when I had finally calmed down, sent everyone to bed. Then I, myself, had slid into my own bed, staring out into the direction where I was almost positive Fang would fly back from.

What had we been 'arguing' about, you might also ask? Well…It had all started with a phone call. I had picked up my cell-phone, seeing that it was from someone in San Francisco, and asked who it was.

It was Omega, poster boy for soulless droids. He had sounded frantic and worried, and had rushed to explain why he was calling me, trying to get me not to hang up on him. He told me that he was in San Francisco, and that he had a gang of mutants with him—one of which was deathly sick. They had tried to help her, but nothing had worked, and now they were at their wits end trying to save her. Their last resort was to turn to me for help.

Speaking from the bottom of my heart of gold, I told him to hang on and wait while the Flock and I discussed. Before I could take the phone away from my ear, though, there had been the sound of, "Omega, she's calling for you!" And soft weeping. Omega had quickly given me his phone number (which Angel wrote down, listening through my mind) and hung up.

Once I had explained to everyone what had happened, they said that even if it was Omega who had called, someone was in trouble and we should try to help. Jeb even said that he would go himself so that we didn't have to risk it being a trap. I of course, wouldn't have that.

And therefore, Fang wouldn't have that (me going in Jeb's place. Or me going at all…)

So after Jeb and Mom had gone out to go get some groceries, Fang and I had gotten in the "argument". And now I was sitting here, waiting for Fang to come back.

* * *

I was startled by a wet hand being put on my shoulder. I jumped around, nearly knocking Fang over. He was soaking wet—his hair falling dramatically into his eyes—and looked like the Grim Reaper who lost his scythe. The corners of his mouth twitched but he didn't smile. "I'm sorry, Fang, I lost my temper and—f" before I could finish my sentence he covered my mouth with his hand. "Forget it," he said calmly. "Let's just go and get it over with. We'll be ready for a trap, and if it isn't we'll help this mysterious sick girl."

Wow, what made him so talkative? He pulled his freezing cold hand away from my mouth and I let myself raise an eyebrow at him. "Why the change of heart?" I asked. He looked at me with those deep, dark eyes of his, and I guessed I knew. It was because of me.

Dang this kid, he seriously liiiiked me, extra i's in that liiiike, too. My heart skipped a beat as he gently brushed some of my hair away from my face. Even though his fingers were icy and wet, the skin they touched felt as though it had been burned. He was looking at me with that crooked smile of his, and then he looked down at his feet. I mirrored him and saw the puddle of water that had collected on the floor. Great.

I glared at him. "That was a new floor too," I grumbled. He shook his head, sending droplets of lukewarm water flying. "Hey!" I jumped away. "Go dry off before you flood the house!" He rolled his eyes. "Geeze, Max," he said in a quiet voice, laced with a teasing hint. But he turned and walked out to his room to dry off and change.

I sighed and went to get a towel to clean up the puddle he had created on the floor. "Stupid Fnick," I muttered to myself as I threw the now soaked towel into my laundry basket. I then flopped into my bed. Only to have my cell ring.

I looked at it and saw that it was from Jeb. Great. I flipped it open and sighed. "Hey, Jeb," I said. "Hi, Max. Have you guys decided on what you're going to do?" He asked. I nodded. "Yeah. We're going. And you're coming with, since we aren't doctors." "Alright then—everyone is coming—Ella and Valencia, too," he said. I sighed and nodded—there was no point arguing.

The trees outside my window thrashed in the wind, sending sprays of rain against the glass, howling to be let inside. As if.

"Alright. We're on our way home. You can call if you need us or just open your mind and scream." I nodded, rolling onto my stomach. "Yup…what took you so long?" I asked. I could practically _hear_ him blush. "I took your mom out to dinner," he said as though embarrassed that he was telling me. My jaw dropped. "YOU WHAT?" "Got to go, Maximum," he said quickly. "Love you, see you later." He hung up.

Fang chuckled as he lay down next to me. "Let me guess, he took your mom out to dinner?" He stated more than asked. I nodded. He sighed slightly. "So we're all headed to San Fran, I guess." I nodded again. We lapsed into silence, staring out into the rain.

Well, I guess you've guessed that we're not in Arizona—absolutely true. We're in California again, somewhere in the middle of a redwood forest. In a**BIG** house. Mansion…thing…We had to drive/fly for hours to reach the nearest civilization that wasn't something covered with fur or feathers or bark.

I liked it here—except for the fact that there had been nothing to do for the past few weeks. Of course, we had gotten a call from the Gov. asking us to come to DC and talk…cool, right? Not. Probably just another bunch of loony scientists who want to study us…again…None of us were that thrilled, but it was the US Government calling, and well, it was the government!

I sighed, trying to relax a bit. They probably just wanted to ask us a few questions, get some autographs and then have us fly into the sunset or something…Even to me that sounded unconvincing…

Something began to rub circles on my back, in-between my wings. Oh, if felt _sooo_ good…I felt myself go almost limp—thank God for giving Fang super-massaging powers. I felt him pull me closer to him, sliding his arms around my waist, just holding me. I loved the feeling of his hands clasped together on my stomach, his breath on my neck. But that dimmed in comparison to how much I loved Fang.

Yes…I just admitted it.

I love Fang.

* * *

**A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own anything, really. It's a sad fact--but it's true.  
**

**_Max:_ You made me sound like some love-sick little cream-puff! (_huffs_)**

**_Me_: Gee wiz, sorry, alright? I promise I'll have you punch out somebody soon!**

**_Fang_:…Not going to work.**

**_Me_: (_Sighs_) oh great.**

**_Max_: Hurry up and work on that chapter!**

**_Me_: Alright-alright already! Geeze…Well, tell me what you think of this chapter, tell me what I should work on…etc. See you later!**

**_Max_: I'll tell you what I think—**

**_Jeb_: Maximum…**

**_Max_: Fine…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A relatively long chapter I think...I don't know, I'm tired...(Yawns)...I don't own Fang's Blog! And there will only be a few references to that...And I'm sorry if Fang seems a bit out of character.**

**Anyway, sorry guys but I've got the choices of M'n'M's picked out already--I've actually had them chosen since Christmas and I've just been waiting for an idea to come up that I could use them in...and here it is. **

The next morning found us flying above the tree tops, going rather slowly to allow Jeb, Mom, and Ella keep up—they were in the car, while we were on our wings. The air was really foggy—this was a redwood forest and redwoods were fog forest trees I think…Jeb had said something about it when we had first came here but I hadn't really paid much attention.

I shot a look over at the others—Angel's curls were blowing in the wind, glistening through the fog like light gold as she laughed and chattered with Nudge. Gazzy was flying with Iggy, talking about something or other (most likely bombs), and Iggy was making wild hand gestures, an excited grin on his face. And then Fang was flying next to me, silent and brooding as usual; except he wasn't as dark as he had been on previous occasions.

He looked up and caught my eye. A slight smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, and I couldn't help but smile back. He looked so at home in the fog—like a ghost of an avenging angel. MY ghostly, dark angel. _OOOOOH!!_ Angel was giggling uncontrollably with Nudge. _You so liiike him!!_

_Angel, what did I tell you about reading my mind?_

_You told me not to._

_So why do you do it?_

_Because it's so fun to read!_

I sighed and shook my head. "So, Max…" Iggy had glided over to me. "Do you think it's a trap?"

By now we had left the forest and were on a road again (or at least the car was). "Do I think it's a trap? Yes. Do I think Omega's an idiot? Yes." I sighed. "Do I think that there's someone hurt or sick and dying?" I guessed his next question. "Probably."

He nodded and then glided back over to Gazzy, where they picked up their previous conversation. Fang looked positively _cheery_ as he flew beside me. It was frightening. "Why are you so…happy?" I asked uneasily. He didn't look at me, his eyes closed in that cheery smile. "Because you think Perfect-Boy is an idiot," he said simply. I blushed as I understood what he meant by that.

_**He really likes you, Max,**_ Jeb said.

…_And…_

_**He's happy that you didn't fall for Omega's perfection.**_

_No dur! I'd already figured that out. _I rolled my eyes.

_**Anyway, how are you guys doing?**_

_We're fine. It's not even lunch time yet and you're asking…_

_**I know, I know…**_

"Jeb?" Fang stated, more than asked, but the question mark was still implied. I nodded. "Yup…He's asking how we are." "We're fine!" Everyone chorused in perfect harmony.

_Hey, Jeb? Who do you think Omega's mutants are? _I asked.

_**I have my guesses…but I'm not sure**_ he answered.

_Guesses are better than nothing. What do you think?_

_**Well…Before the Flock, there had been many other part-human experiments. Many were avian/humans. The closest experiments to success was a group of three; the Tri and Fly, they called themselves. They were just as successful as you and the Flock, except that they came down with a mysterious illness a few years into the project. The only one who survived was Jamie, and even she was weak and unable to survive any more tests and experiments. They locked her away and only barely kept her alive—she was a failure.**_

_**When they kicked up more animal/human experiments, the 'successes' were thrown into Jamie's room. She bonded with them and became the leader of their group. They formed a break-out plan. And they escaped, never to be heard from again.**_

_**They escaped only about a year ago—there's a great possibility that Omega's found them. The question is, how did Omega make it to the US from Germany?**_

"How indeed…"

* * *

By lunch we were half-way there. We flew downward and landed near the parked car. Mom and Jeb already had the food set up on a picnic blanket, and Ella was already eating. We practically dove into the food—what can I say; flying takes up a LOT of energy. 

While we inhaled the food in front of us, we moved into our respective sections—Iggy and Gazzy, Angel and Nudge and Total, Ella and Jeb and Mom, and Fang and I. Speaking of Fang and I…

He had sat down next to me and while he munched on his HUGE sandwich, one of which Mom had made for us. Just as he was about to say something, Jeb asked something. _**Should I tell the others about my guess?** _He asked. I glared at him. _Since when did you ask ME what you should do? Whatever._

He looked hurt--I could see the pain in his eyes. I felt a pang of guilt, but then he turned to the others and spoke. He explained about the Tri and Fly and the Mismatched Mutants, or the M 'n M's as I now like to call them. After Jeb had finished, everyone was silent. "Wow."

He had gone into much more detail--explaining that the Tri and Fly were actually only 76 human, and were 24 avian. Jamie was twenty-four percent Northern Harrier hawk. Jeb told us what they looked like: Jamie had middle of the back length, light brown, slightly wavy hair and hazel eyes. The M'n'M's were Kamatts, Bluebell, and Dolly. Kamatts would be only barely twelve, while Bluebell would be eleven. Jeb didn't say how old Dolly was.

Kamatts would have sandy brown hair and amber eyes--Jeb said something to himself about white paws, but no one seemed to hear except me. Bluebell had jaw length, black hair--like one of those Asian kids you see on TV who're called Ping or something--and blind, green eyes. Iggy had a strange expression on his face when he heard she was blind. Dolly had black hair and blue eyes and porcelain skin. Jeb said no more after that.

* * *

After we had packed up we continued on. When we got closer to civilization Jeb called us down--all of us agreed that we didn't want to be seen, flying into San Fran. Fang had much too many fans out there. 

Speaking of that...

After we had gotten into the car, Fang took out his laptop that he had hid there. He chuckled as he checked his bog's comments. I raised an eyebrow at him. "More I 3 Fang?"

Wordlessly he flipped the laptop so that it was facing me.

Yup, more I heart Fang's...

Wordlessly, I took his laptop.

Then I showed his post to Gazzy and Iggy. It was a YouTube video **(A/N: It was the post of Wednesday, January 30, 2008)**. From the grins on their faces I could tell that they weren't going to let Fang forget the 'Fang Bond' thing. "Poor FNick," I said unsympathetically. He rolled his eyes at me and gave me a shove. I knocked him in the ribs with my elbow. "You don't want me to drop your precious laptop, do you?" I asked him. "NO!" His eyes widened and he practically blew my eardrums out with that one syllable.

He simmered as I posted my reply to his post. **(AN: Friday Feb 1, 2008 BTW Just because I'm using these dates doesn't mean that in the story it's that time...If I can do that...I DO NOT OWN THOSE BLOG POSTS!!)**

Then I handed the laptop back to Fang. He read it and then looked at me strangely. "Max, you just replied to me, so therefore you gratified me with a response!"

Wow, what a mouthful...

I sighed and shook my head, resting said head on his shoulder. "Haha, funny," I muttered. He shut down the computer, closed it, and then hid it under the seat. Then he wrapped an arm around me, holding me close. We just stared out the window as the others talked and played I Spy and Car Color Count, and ABC I See.

Soon the highway's colors blurred together and I fell asleep on Fang's shoulder.

* * *

I was shaken awake by Fang. It was dark. And we were in San Francisco. He smiled at me with that crooked smile. "Have a nice rest?" He asked. I smiled back and nodded. He nodded. "Max," Jeb said, "Can you call Omega and ask for his exact position?" 

I nodded, in a good mood from my rest. Angel and Nudge were watching the sea lions out on the docks and rocks, and Gazzy was looking out across the water, his eyes glassy as he murmured a description of the scene. Iggy had his eyes closed, listening. It was a very peaceful scene.

As I finished dialing and waited for the phone to be picked up, I looked around. There were huge buildings all around, but one caught my eye--an entire wall was seemingly made of glass. I could see what was up against the window/wall.

There was a girl sitting there, staring out across the bay. A teddy bear was held close to her side, and she looked at peace with the world as she watched a ferry, framed against the rising moon. It only added to the atmosphere.

It was broken by Omega picking up the phone. "Max?" He asked. "Yeah," I replied. "We need to know your exact position--where are you, what's near you...etcetera." He took a breath and I heard the sound of feet scuffing against the ground. "Um...right next to 643 Bay Street," I heard him say eventually. **(A/N:Random number picked...Don't know if it even exists...Well, it does in my head) **"There's a grassy area just behind there, and next to that is a really wet, cold, disgusting alley..." I heard him swear as he stubbed his toe on something. Haha for you, sucker. "And lots of junk."

"Alright." I looked at Jeb, who was ready to use the GPS system in the car to find it. "643 Bay Street," I said. "Somewhere around there."

He nodded and punched it in. Then we were off again.

"We're on our way, Kid," I said to Omega. "Thank you, Max," he said. There was true emotion and sincerity in his voice. "Jamie's not looking good...I'm sorry I got to go--Oh God, she's choking again--Shit! Sorry!" He hung up.

Oh great. This didn't sound too good...

Now I really hoped we didn't get there too late.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Don't own anything 'cept my own characters.**

**Okay, so this chapter SUCKS EGGS in my mind...but yeah... **

We finally reached 643 Bay Street and we had to park the car. I led the others to the small grassy area (We all had to climb fences to get into it though) and then I found the alley Omega had been talking about. A boy of Kamatts' description was sitting there, and when he saw us he looked relieved. "Are you guys the Flock?" He asked. He had a bit of a British accent. We nodded.

His clothes were loose and patched in his left elbow, right arm, and left shoulder--his sweatshirt's sleeves had to be rolled up a lot just to be near his hands. A tattered, black scarf hung around his neck, and his pant cuffs scratched against the ground. They were muddy and frayed.

As he turned to lead us deeper into the alley, his amber eyes met Angel's. She took my hand, holding it tight. _He scares me_, she whispered into my mind. _He's not...right._

Oh, that was _so _comforting.

We finally reached the end of the alley to find the rest of the Mutants, plus Omega. The Perfect Idiot was kneeling next to a girl, who was lying on a sleeping bag. One of her hands was in his...he looked worried, and I could see why; her light brown hair was matted and dirty, it looked gray; her skin was pale, but her cheeks were flushed with fever, and she seemed not to be breathing. Her wings were tucked in behind her back--they were huge, too big to pull in, like ours. They were, however, beautiful.

She looked as though she was lying in a coffin, and ready to have people come to her side and mourn.

Jeb took one look at her and then rushed over, nearly bowling over the girl who had been just standing to get out of his way. Mom walked over to him and set down her case that held her and Jeb's medical supplies. She opened it as Jeb and she murmured together, and each and every one of us froze and skittered back at the sight of the needles...

Bluebell--the girl that Jeb had nearly knocked over--was shaking horribly at the sight of the sterile kit of stuff. Kamatts pulled her into his arms and steered her away from the sight of needles and the smell of doctors. We Flock, however, steeled ourselves and sat down to watch. Omega remained by Jamie's side, hardly breathing as Jeb and Mom took care of the girl. One time he took something from Jamie's other hand--a doll. It wasn't one of those plastic dolls, or those old porcelain dolls, no, it was a sturdy doll with wood and cloth. She was sweet and very, very sad looking. Her black hair was done in two braids, and her bangs fell into her perfect blue eyes. Her clothes were worn with time and love, too. Omega held the doll close in one arm, his other hand still occupied by Jamie's.

Ella held Iggy's hand tightly, squeezing it and un-squeezing it as she watched anxiously. Fang crouched next to me, his jaw working as he stared at the operation. He was worried, too.

We all were, I mean...she had wings. She was one of us.

Mom and Jeb had finally finished and had just looked up to tell us that she'd be ok when we heard a scream.

_"HELP!"_

It was not Bluebell. Or Kammatts.

It was Angel.

* * *

"Angel! SNAP OUT OF IT!" We were trying to make Angel stop screaming. She kept clutching her head, kicking at invisible enemies. "Kammatts! BEHIND YOU!" She screamed. 

"She must be picking up on Kam and Bluebell," Omega murmured. He gently handed the doll to Dr. Martinez. "Careful with her, she's not just a doll," he cautioned, and then shot off down the alley.

None of us wanted to leave Angel, who was still fighting air, but Mom said she'd take care of her--Mom and Ella couldn't fight anyway. "Iggy," I said to said mutant, "Stay here and protect Ella and Mom." He nodded, not protesting at all. Dang, he obviously had something for Ella...

Without one look at Angel we sped off. If we had looked back we would never had been able to go.

We found Omega surrounded by--not Flyboys or Erasers--but a bunch of teenagers. With weapons. Oh joy. Omega had a thin cut under one of his silvery eyes (obviously from one of the teenagers' knives) and had a knife of his own in hand. _Where'd he get that? "Leave them alone."_ His voice was colder than ice as he stood planted in front of Bluebell and Kamatts, both were glaring at the teenagers.

Said teenagers laughed.

They still hadn't noticed us, and Fang took our silence to his advantage. He stepped out of the shadows, his bangs falling into his dark eyes, looking like an avenging angel. And his wings loose behind him in a way that showed them off eerily just added to the creepy, haunting look he had.

One guy looked over and froze at the sight of Fang. "You will leave them," Fang murmured most convincingly. Heads began turning to him, laughter faded. Eyes widened in fear.

Awesome.

"Drop your weapons and leave this place, before the righteous hand of God bids me to take them from you...and send your souls to the pits of Hell for attacking His children," Fang continued. Since when has he been religious and talkative? Since when has he been religious, period?

And miraculously, knives and guns dropped and at least three quarters of the teenagers ran, screaming prayers to their mommas. Fang's eyes pierced into the remaining with a cold fury--they were just a bunch of thugs. With guns.

"You asked for it," I said as I stepped forward, wings displayed. As the Flock stepped forward into the light from the streetlight, the thugs' grips on their weapons tightened. Before they could do anything, though, Omega had leaped forward and smashed his fist into the back of a skull. There was a sickening crack and the thug dropped like lead. "Who's next?" Kamatts snarled, crouching on all fours like a dog. I cracked my knuckles when no one stepped forward.

"Attack on three," I said to everyone.

"ONE!"

And then all Hell broke loose.

* * *

The guys never stood a chance. We hadn't killed them--not even teh one Omega had punched in the back of the head. He was just out. In fact, we even carried them in all their dead-weight glory up over the rooftops to a street, and dumped them there. 

When we came back, Omega and the others were looking around, seeing who had gotten injured. Bluebell had blood dripping down the side of her face, and Kamatts had a fist-shaped bruise on his cheek, but everyone else was otherwise alright.

Omega, however kept looking around. "Where is he?" he muttered. "Huh?" Nudge asked confusedly. "There was another guy--you didn't drag him off...I counted..."

"He's right," I said, and everyone visibly tensed.

The Flock instinctively drew together into a tight clump--Kamatts drew back, looking around fearfully. He tried to pull Bluebell back with him, but she fought him. "OMEGA!" Bluebell screamed suddenly, trying to break away and push Omega. "WATCH--"

**_BANG_**

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

_"OMEGA!__ Watch—"_

_**BANG** _

* * *

Now we had not one but TWO unconscious mutants in the back of the car, with two others, and a doll. Plus we Flock, Jeb, Mom, and Ella and Total. We had _fift__een_ people squeezed into the car, plus a dog. You can guess it was very crowded—and tense.

Bluebell and Kamatts were huddled in the back of the car with Omega and Jamie, who were both unconscious. Under his shirt, Omega had bandages wrapped around his torso. Yes, he had been shot. But luckily, with his 'invincibility' and Mom and Jeb's medical abilities, he was going to be fine. All of us were relieved; I mean, we aren't heartless, unlike the 'newest' experiments who Jeb said didn't have a soul.

Angel was sitting on my lap, while Fang was squished next to me, up against the window. Nudge was sitting in-between Jeb and Mom in the front seats, Gazzy was sandwiched between me and Iggy, who had the other window seat on my left.

Behind me were the four Mutants, who were silent and tense. Heck, everyone in the car was tense. We didn't fully trust them and they knew it. They were tense because they didn't know if Jamie could be saved. They didn't know what to trust: We all felt for them in a way, I mean, there had been a time when it was just us, no one else, too. No one to go to or trust.

I could feel Bluebell's blind gaze boring I into my back, but I didn't want to turn and meet her eyes. Angel had been surprisingly silent and unmoving, curled in my lap. Suddenly she stirred and looked over my shoulder at Bluebell.

I looked down at her and to my surprise saw her eyes narrowed in concentration—as though she was trying to break into Bluebell's mind. And Bluebell was frowning, but was still calm as she stared into Angel's eyes.

I could sense a break in the tension as Bluebell fell back into the seat and smiled at Angel, who smiled back. I could tell that now they were chattering in each other's minds like good friends. Fang looked at me and shrugged. I took it to mean, 'I guess birds of a feather flock together'. I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. He took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "Everything will be alright, Bell," Angel said out loud. "I know, yet…" Bluebell sighed. "Jamie is our mother and Omega has been taking care of us since she became ill…"

I realized then how old-fashioned Bluebell seemed to be. Her little spoken vocabulary was so formal and…I could just picture her back during the American Revolution or something. She and Angel continued to chatter, this time out loud. They were probably the same age, I guessed. Bluebell might be a bit older, though…

I shifted my gaze to Kamatts. He curled up as he felt my gaze upon him, drawing his knees up to his chin and wrapping his hand around them, hiding his face. I felt my eyes widen as he did that—his pant legs had shifted so I could see his shoes.

But they weren't shoes.

Instead of shoes or even feet, he had a pair of white, wolf paws. Big, clumsy looking, paws, covered in mud, but still…Definitely _wolf_ paws. Angel tugged on my sleeve. _Don't stare, _she said sharply. _It just makes him feel worse!_

"What _are_ you?" Angel asked softly to Kamatts, her voice gentle as she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder.

A low rumble came from him and that was it. Angel looked horrified—her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in shock. _HORRIBLE! _Even I could hear what she projected to Bluebell, her thoughts were so loud.

"Bells," Jeb said over his shoulder from the front seat, "What's Omega thinking about at the moment?" Obviously he was checking to see if Omega would wake up anytime soon or not. Bluebell turned her gaze to Omega and paused. Angel followed her gaze, and then both of them glanced at each other, grinning. "Oh, nothing _interesting_," Angel said, her giggles pointing to the exact opposite.

"You don't want to know, Jeb," Bluebell said, and then looked at Angel again. They both broke out in peals of hysterical laughter, which I found was contagious. Soon everyone—except Fang—was laughing until their sides hurt. Fang was, however, smirking at me infuriatingly as I suffocated. Really, after fighting Erasers and Flyboys and Itex, _this_ was how I was going to die? From _laughing?_

"Do I need to breathe for you?" Fang asked, trying to scowl—and he was failing. That smirk of his was getting wider and wider. As I realized what 'breathing for me' entailed, I stopped laughing, my grin turning into a glare as my cheeks heated up. "Sexist pig," I muttered.

He took a deep breath, as though steeling himself for something painful, and then…he pouted.

Fang. Pouted.

_Fang _pouted.

Fang _pouted._

No wonder he looked as though it were painful! But it still had the effect of a slug to the stomach. It felt as though all of my breath had been knocked out of me—the look on his face made him look as though I had said something that really, really, _really_ got to him, although I knew in the back of my mind that it was only an act.

His expression changed to that of amusement again.

Oh great…Now he's going to be using that face on me all the time…

There goes my sanity.

* * *

I don't remember falling asleep, but then again, I don't think we had been driving under the Pacific Ocean. But I woke to Fang placing me in my bed. I opened my eyes and looked up at him blearily, a smile crossing my face. "Sorry," he said quietly, sitting down beside me. I yawned and shook my head, trying to make up my mind on whether to sit up or to just lie there. He tangled his fingers in mine and his other hand ran down my wings, smoothing out the feathers. Shivers coursed through me, along with an overwhelming sense of pleasure.

"Where are the M&M's?" I asked. My mind and voice was no longer sleepy, just relaxed. I thought for a moment about the last time I had truly been relaxed. I couldn't find it. But now, with Fang sitting next to me, rubbing my wings, I was totally at ease.

"Bluebell's sharing a room with Nudge and Angel, and Kamatts is right next door to them. The other two are in the attic—and _he's_ awake." He grimaced, as though the mere thought of Omega was disgusting. I narrowed my eyes. "Is anyone watching them?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah. Iggy and Mom."

"Good…" We both lapsed into silence and I closed my eyes, succumbing to the circles being rubbed in-between my wings.

"Max…do you think…they can be trusted?" Fang's voice pulled me a little out of dreamland. "If Angel trusts Bluebell, then I trust her too," I murmured. Then I was right back to sleep.

* * *

**As always, tell me what you think.**


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys.

I'm sorry it took me so long, and I'm sorry I've got your hopes up only for them to be dashed again. Y'see, I completely forgot about here, and I have no ideas myself. I've dumped these stories on my friend LovinaHolmes, and as she's a great writer, I'm sure you'll love what she does with them. She's free to do anything. I hope you guys can travel over to her profile and read her continuations/rewrites/whatevers of Thunderstruck, and the Mismatched Mutants.

Again, my apologies.

RWSW


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